Teens Blame Rihanna For Assault

It’s hard not to pay attention to all the Rihanna news that has been circulating lately. I’ve read it in the newspapers, in the tabloids, on the gossip sites, I’ve talked about it with my friends and even my professors, and still it’s hard to wrap my head around. It’s difficult to see anyone going through a hard time, but when it’s someone you have grown to admire and respect, it becomes that much more difficult.

There have been a number of issues that have been bothering me in the last few weeks that have followed the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident. It bothers me that her picture was released and splashed all over the place, it bothers me that Chris Brown showed little remorse after the alleged attack, and it bothered me that Rihanna went back to her attacker. But most of all, it bothered me that people are now turning on Rihanna and blaming her for what happened.

In a survey conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission, it was found that almost half of all teens surveyed (age 12 to 19) think that Rihanna is to blame for the assault. Of the 200 who were polled, 46% said that Rihanna was responsible, 52% said the media was treating Chris Brown unfairly, and 44% said fighting was a normal part of any relationship.

Rihanna’s police report said that  Chris brown tried to force her out of the car, and when that didn’t work he shoved her head into the car door. He then repeatedly punched her in the head while continuing to drive until he pulled over, threatened to kill her, threw her cell phone into the street and put her into a headlock until she began to lose consciousness.

Is that a normal part of any relationship? I feel like as more people begin to see this as “normal” behavior, the more acceptible it will become.

I will never understand why Rihanna went back to Chris Brown. It is one aspect of abusive relationships that will never make sense to me. It is hard for me to imagine someone who is as incredibly talented, beautiful and successful as Rihanna is, to not be able to see all the good things she deserves.

What I do know is that Rihanna should not be blamed for what happened. She should not be blamed for “destroying Chris Brown’s Career” as a significant portion of the surveyed teens suggested. She could not have done anything so terrible that anyone do that to her. I think its really important to realize this because as violence becomes more normalized as a form of punishment within a relationship, the more common its going to become.